Questions to Ask an Author

Hi, Summer Reading Challengers. Many of you are planning to come to our author reading on Tuesday (because it's a Secret Bonus Task!). If it's your first author reading, you might be wondering what kinds of things Heidi Kling will talk about. Here's a list of frequently asked questions that you could ask:

• How do you get ideas for characters? Are they based on real people or made up?
• Where and when do you usually write? Do you have a schedule for writing?
• Do you plan your books before you start, or just sit down and write them?
• Who gets to read your drafts before they're published?
• How did your first book get published?
• What are you writing next?
• How old were you when you started writing novels?
• Do you have any advice for young people who want to become authors?

Remember, Heidi Kling will be here to talk about her Young Adult novel, Sea, on Tuesday August 3rd at 7:00 p.m.

Third-to-last Secret Bonus Task

First of all, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to everyone came to our first ever Children's Book Swap! After the Book Swap we were able to donate almost 500 books to the Children's Book Project! We tested out some different ways of doing it, and we hope our next one will be even better.

There are only 17 days left in the Summer Reading Challenge. Are you wishing that you had more entries in the Grand Prize Drawing? Well, you can earn two more if you come to our author event on Tuesday!


Who: Heidi Kling, author of Sea. Sea is a Young Adult book, but younger children are welcome to come and ask questions about what it's like to be an author.
What: Heidi will read a little bit from her book and then answer questions from the audience
When: Tuesday, August 3rd at 7:00 p.m.




Here's a little bit of information about Sea. In my next post I'll include some frequently asked questions that you may want to ask Heidi.

Sea
by Heidi Kling
Young Adult fiction

Still haunted by nightmares of her mother's death, 15-year-old Sienna Jones travels to Indonesia with her father's relief team to help tsunami orphans with their post traumatic stress disorder--something Sienna knows about. But the last thing she expects is to fall for Deni.

Secret Bonus Task!

Hey, Challengers! Are you ready for the next Secret Bonus Task? Here it is:

To earn two extra entries in the Grand Prize Drawing (plus a secret prize)...

...you must...

...come to our first ever BOOK SWAP!

• What: You bring all the books you don't really want any more. For each book you bring, you get a ticket. Trade your tickets for books that other kids have brought!


• Where: In the children's room at A Great Good Place for Books.


• When: Sunday, July 25th at 5:00 p.m. Please be on time so I can set up the books on tables!


• Who: anyone who is doing the Summer Reading Challenge--or would like to join. While the kids are swapping books, there will be a great sale happening for parents at the front of the store.


• Why: So you can keep reading without spending all of your allowance on books!

Do you have questions or need more information? You can email me (Jake) at p1ratewench@hotmail.com or call the store at (510) 339-8210.

Secret Bonus Task!

Okay, Challengers...are you ready for the next Secret Bonus Task?

Completing this task will earn you TWO extra entries in the Grand Prize Drawing. (If you're curious how many entries you've earned, check out the poster in the store window.)

Here is the Task:

You must draw a picture of a scene from a book. Below the picture, or on the back, write:

• Title of the book
• Author of the book
• What is happening in your scene. (Remember to include the names of the characters and what they are doing.)

When it's done, bring your drawing to the store and, if you give us permission, we will display it.

review of White Cat

White Cat
by Holly Black
Young Adult Paranormal Fiction
Available now in hardcover

You know what I love? I love when a book takes place inside a slightly different version of the world you know, and the author assumes that you're already familiar with those differences. Rather than taking pages and pages to explain the history of this not-quite-the-same place, the author throws in references that explain the little ways in which the world she's created is different from ours. It feels more natural that way. Holly Black's White Cat is this kind of novel. Her America is the same as ours in every way but one: a small percentage of the population can work a curse on you if their bare hands come in contact with your skin.

Cassel Sharpe comes from a family of curse workers, but he himself is not a worker. Until the night he wakes up on the edge of his dorm's roof, he is just a normal kid trying to get through school without making a splash. His sleepwalking episode is seen as a cry for help and he is suspended from school until he's been evaluated by a doctor.

Cassel returns to his family home and begins to realize that not everything is as it seems. His sister-in-law is hearing strange music. His brothers are acting secretive. A white cat is following him everywhere--even into his dreams. And his mom is about to get out of prison. Suddenly Cassel is on a hunt for the truth, but he doesn't know if he wants to find it.

I devoured this book in less than a day. Usually I don't go in for paranormal-type stuff, but Holly Black did a great job of working the paranormal elements into a novel that could stand up on its own. Cassel is the son of a con man--or con woman--and he struggles between his love for the con and his moral compunctions. I liked him a lot, and I hope I get to hear more from him in Red Glove.